NRS 532.220 Channel
Clearance, Maintenance, Restoration, Surveying and Monumenting Program:
Establishment; purpose; grant qualification; immunity of state and local
governments; refund of certain fees; certain permits not to be denied for lack
of money.

NRS 532.030Qualifications.No
person may be appointed as State Engineer who is not a licensed professional
engineer pursuant to the provisions of chapter
625 of NRS and who does not have such training in hydraulic and general
engineering and such practical skill and experience as shall fit that person
for the position.

NRS 532.040Oath.Before
entering upon the duties of his or her office, the State Engineer shall take
and subscribe to an official oath, such as is provided by law for state
officers, before a person authorized by the law of this State to administer
oaths.

2. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 284.143, the State Engineer shall
devote his or her entire time and attention to the business of the Office of
the State Engineer and shall not pursue any other business or occupation or
hold any other office of profit.

1. The State Engineer is empowered and
directed to procure for the Office of the State Engineer a seal upon which
shall appear his or her official title and such other suitable inscription as
the State Engineer may deem proper.

2. The seal shall be affixed to all
official permits, certificates and other documents issued by the State Engineer
under the provisions of law.

[74:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3244; NCL § 7960]

NRS 532.090Appointment of technical, clerical and operational staff; persons
appointed to conduct snow surveys exempted from state personnel system.

1. The State Engineer may, with the
consent of the Director of the State Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources, appoint such technical, clerical and operational staff as the
execution of the duties of the State Engineer and the operation of the Division
may require.

2. Snow survey personnel appointed for the
purposes of NRS 532.170 are exempt from the provisions
of chapter 284 of NRS.

NRS 532.100Expenses.The State
Engineer may purchase such material and incur such expenses for traveling and
other purposes as may be necessary for the proper conduct and maintenance of
the Office of the State Engineer, to be paid from the moneys which may be
appropriated for such purposes from time to time, as other state claims are
paid.

[Part 2:108:1919; A 1929, 143; 1949, 450; 1943 NCL §
7391]

NRS 532.110General duties.The
State Engineer shall perform such duties as are or may be prescribed by law and
the Director of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

1. The State Engineer may make such
reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary for the proper and orderly
execution of the powers conferred by law.

2. The State Engineer may adopt
regulations, not in conflict with law, governing the practice and procedure in
all contests before the Office of the State Engineer, to ensure the proper and
orderly exercise of the powers granted by law, and the speedy accomplishment of
the purposes of chapters 533, 534, 535 and 536 of NRS. Such rules of practice and procedure
must be furnished to any person upon application therefor.

NRS 532.130Power to administer oaths.The
State Engineer and his or her authorized assistants may administer such oaths
as may be necessary in the performance of their official duties.

[16:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3227; NCL § 7903]

NRS 532.140Reports.The State
Engineer shall prepare and deliver to the Director of the State Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources at such times as may be required by the
Director, a full report of the work of the Office of the State Engineer,
including a detailed statement of the expenditures thereof, with such
recommendations as the State Engineer may deem advisable.

[14:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3227; NCL § 7901]—(NRS A
1959, 552)

NRS 532.150Records: Public inspection; certified copies as evidence.

1. The records of the Office of the State
Engineer are public records and shall remain on file in the Office of the State
Engineer and be open to the inspection of the public at all times during
business hours.

2. Such records shall show in full all
maps, profiles and engineering data relating to the use of water.

3. Certified copies thereof shall be
admissible as evidence in all cases where the original would be admissible as
evidence.

[15:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3227; NCL § 7902]

NRS 532.160Duties of Attorney General and district attorneys.The Attorney General and the district attorney
of the county in which legal questions arise shall be the legal advisers of the
State Engineer and shall perform any and all legal duties necessary in
connection with their work without any further compensation than their salaries
fixed by law.

[78:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3246; NCL § 7964]

NRS 532.165Duties: Studies and inventories; review of governmental
proposals for flood control and water development projects; program to map
water rights.The State Engineer
shall:

1. Conduct necessary studies and
inventories.

2. Review and evaluate proposals by
federal, state and local agencies for flood control and water development
projects to ensure that such proposals are compatible with the state water
resource plan and are in compliance with Nevada water laws.

3. Within the limits of legislative
appropriations, implement a program to map water rights statewide on a
geographic information system.

NRS 532.170Agreements concerning use and development of water resources.

1. Subject to the provisions of subsection
2 and with the approval of the Director of the State Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources, the State Engineer, for and on behalf of the State of
Nevada, is authorized to enter into agreements with the United States
Geological Survey, the United States Soil Conservation Service, and any state
agency, subdivision or institution having jurisdiction in such matters, for
cooperation in making stream measurements, underground water studies, snow
surveys, or any investigations related to the development and use of the water
resources of Nevada.

2. The expenses of such investigations and
surveys shall be divided between the parties upon an equitable basis.

[1:117:1945; 1943 NCL § 8259]—(NRS A 1959, 553)

NRS 532.175Agreements concerning cooperative management of groundwater
basins shared between states.The
State Engineer, after a public hearing on the issue and with the approval of
the Director of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, for
and on behalf of the State of Nevada, is authorized to enter into agreements
with neighboring states or their political subdivisions concerning cooperative
management of groundwater basins shared between the states.

NRS 532.180Cooperation with United States and California relative to waters
of Lake Tahoe and adjacent areas.With
the approval of the Director of the State Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources, the State Engineer, for and on behalf of the State of
Nevada, is authorized to cooperate with the United States Government and the
State of California in making a study of the various problems pertaining to the
future needs and uses of the waters of Lake Tahoe in the area adjacent thereto,
and, if it appears that at some future period there may be a shortage of water,
to study ways and means of developing a supplemental water supply so that the
development of the area will not be impeded and existing water rights not
jeopardized.

[1:173:1947; 1943 NCL § 7392.04]—(NRS A 1959, 553)

NRS 532.200Adjudication Emergency Account.

1. For the purpose of advancing and paying
for stenographic work and transcripts required by law or order of court, or for
the costs, witness fees or expenses incurred by or upon the authority of the
Attorney General and the State Engineer in any litigation affecting any order
of determination adjudicating the waters of any system of streams in this
state, there is hereby created the Adjudication Emergency Account in the State
General Fund. All money returned pursuant to subsection 3 and NRS 533.190 until those returns total an
amount determined by the State Board of Examiners must be deposited in this
Account, and thereafter the Account must be maintained for the purposes
designated in this section. If the balance in the Adjudication Emergency
Account exceeds the amount determined by the State Board of Examiners, that
portion of the balance in the Account which exceeds the amount determined by
the State Board of Examiners must be deposited in the State General Fund. If
the balance in the Adjudication Emergency Account is below the amount
determined by the State Board of Examiners, the State Engineer may request an
allocation from the Contingency Account pursuant to NRS 353.266, 353.268 and 353.269.

2. No part of the Adjudication Emergency
Account may be used in the payment of attorney’s fees.

3. The State of Nevada shall recover all
costs paid or advanced pursuant to the provisions of this section, and the
money recovered must be placed in the Adjudication Emergency Account.

4. All expenditures from the Adjudication
Emergency Account must be paid as other claims against the State are paid.

1. The fund created pursuant to the
provisions of chapter 232, Statutes of Nevada 1931, and chapter 23, Statutes of
Nevada 1943, is hereby continued as a revolving account within the State
General Fund, for the purposes set forth in NRS
533.270 to 533.295, inclusive, and
for the purposes set forth in the provisions of chapters
534, 535 and 536
of NRS pertaining to the conservation and distribution of waters.

2. The money in the Water Distribution
Revolving Account may be used for:

(a) The payment of state water commissioners’ and
assistant state water commissioners’ salaries and expenses.

(b) The payment of salaries and expenses of other
employees engaged in the work of the distribution of waters or streams that are
directly under the supervision of the State Engineer.

(c) The payment of expenses necessarily incurred
by the state water commissioners in the distribution of water.

3. The money in the Water Distribution
Revolving Account, or so much thereof as is necessary, may be used by the State
Engineer for the uses and purposes of, and in the administration of the
provisions of, chapter 534 of NRS pertaining
to the conservation and distribution of underground waters.

NRS 532.220Channel Clearance, Maintenance, Restoration, Surveying and
Monumenting Program: Establishment; purpose; grant qualification; immunity of
state and local governments; refund of certain fees; certain permits not to be denied
for lack of money.

1. The Channel Clearance, Maintenance,
Restoration, Surveying and Monumenting Program is hereby established and must
be administered by the State Engineer.

2. This Program is to aid local
governments in this state in the clearance, maintenance, restoration, surveying
and monumenting of navigable rivers.

3. Any incorporated city, county or other
political subdivision of this state may apply to the State Engineer for a grant
under this program if the incorporated city, county or other political
subdivision requesting the money agrees to match the state grant equally.

4. The State, its departments, divisions
and agencies, an incorporated city, a county and all other political
subdivisions of this state, and their employees and agents, are immune from
civil liability for damages caused by an alteration or disturbance of a
riverbed or flooding sustained as a result of any act or omission by an
employee or agent in clearing or causing to be cleared, maintaining or
restoring a channel of a river pursuant to this section if the channel is
cleared, maintained or restored pursuant to a permit granted by the Division of
State Lands of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and
such other permits and approvals as are required by law.

5. The Division of State Lands and the
Division of Environmental Protection of the State Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources shall refund the application or permit fees, if any, paid
by a governmental entity to apply for a state permit to perform channel
clearance, maintenance, restoration, surveying and monumenting if:

(a) The governmental entity applies for the
applicable permits from the Division of State Lands and from the Division of
Environmental Protection of the State Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources;

(b) The governmental entity obtains all other
permits and approvals as are required by law;

(c) The governmental entity applies for a grant
pursuant to subsection 3; and

(d) The grant is denied for lack of money in the
Account for the Channel Clearance, Maintenance, Restoration, Surveying and
Monumenting Program after:

(1) The State Engineer requests an
allocation from the Contingency Account pursuant to subsection 4 of NRS 532.230; and

(2) An allocation from the Contingency
Account is not made within 90 days after the request is made.

6. A state permit must not be denied for
lack of money in the Account for the Channel Clearance, Maintenance,
Restoration, Surveying and Monumenting Program.

7. As used in this section, “navigable
river” means a river or stream that is used, or is susceptible of being used,
in its ordinary condition for trade or travel in the customary modes of trade or
travel on rivers or streams.

1. The Account for the Channel Clearance,
Maintenance, Restoration, Surveying and Monumenting Program is hereby created
in the State General Fund.

2. The money in the Account must be
administered by the State Engineer and must be expended only to aid local
governments in the manner provided in NRS 532.220.

3. If the balance in the Account is below
$250,000, the State Engineer may request an allocation from the Contingency
Account pursuant to NRS 353.266, 353.268 and 353.269.

4. If the balance in the Account is not
sufficient to provide a grant of money to an incorporated city, a county or a
political subdivision of this state, the State Engineer shall request an
allocation from the Contingency Account pursuant to NRS 353.266, 353.268 and 353.269.